NUR 424 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Palliative Care, Assisted Suicide, Sedation
Document Summary
Ethical, legal aspects of care: ninr 1997 designated as lead institute to coordinate research related end of life care. Assisted suicide: providing another person the means to end his or own life, physician assisted suicide prescription by a physician of a lethal dose of medication for the purpose of ending someone"s life. Palliative care: comprehensive care for patients whose disease is not responsive to cure; care also extends to patients" families, palliative sedation, use of medications to induce sedation when symptoms unresponsive to other measures. Hospice care: coordinated program of interdisciplinary care, services provided primarily in home to terminally ill patients and their families, hospice care benefits. Barriers to improving end-of-life care: cure = focus of health care establishment, financial criteria, reimbursement issues, cultural, social issues, discomfort with addressing issues of death (both patient, family), health care providers, psychological, coping responses to death, dying (denial)
